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Applying your heart to wisdom

Dear BPCWAians, Last week, I wrote to encourage every one of us to make every day count for God. In Psalm 90, Moses gave us 3 compelling reasons why we should number our days. We must have the right perspective of time, deal with our sins, and fear God’s wrath if I should continue living in sin. What do we do to make our days count as we number our days? We must apply our hearts unto wisdom – So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom (Ps 90:12). To help us to remember, I used the acronym DAYS – Desire, Acknowledge, Yearn, Serve.

Desire unbroken fellowship. Ps 90:13-14 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. 14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Moses humbly pleaded for God’s presence. That would be the great joy and gladness all the believer’s days.  What must motivate us ought to be the desiring unbroken fellowship with our LORD daily in 2020. We must treasure this above all else. Making our days  count begins with desiring that we have personal fellowship with our Living God and Saviour every day. If we set our hearts on our fellowship with God, this will be the best means of keeping our minds stayed on God. We will begin to live in that blessed communion that nothing else can satisfy.

Acknowledge my sin. Ps 90:15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. Unbroken fellowship requires dealing with our sins. Moses acknowledged that the problems before them were the result of chastisement for sin. With this acknowledgement, there is a repentance and a desire to change and live aright. Sometimes, we face difficulties because of our sin. We disobeyed, did not care and went ahead to pursue what we knew was not right. Applying our hearts to wisdom now means acknowledging and repenting of these sins and such ways. It is not enough to just know that we’ve sinned, but we must be willing to change our ways and correct it in the days ahead. Each day lived in not dealing with sin is another day wasted.

Yearn for the glory of God. Ps 90:16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. Moses yearned to see God’s work among His people. He had a heart for the work of God to flourish and for man see His glory. We often yearn for good things for our own sakes. We have little care for God’s vineyard. Our yearning and our desires mustn’t be about “me”, and must not be to achieve our own glory. Make your days count by not yearning for your own glory in what you do, what you pursue, and why you serve God. If you want to live to make every day count for God, you must have a yearning that man see the glory of God – who He is and what He has done. And this is not just for our time, but in future generations as well. So, we should yearn not just so that we have a sound church to worship in today, but that in the next generation, and in the generation after them, BPCWA will continue to be a sound church too. We want to be a church that will glorify God while our Lord tarries. Unless we change our yearnings, we will not make our days count for God.

Service. Ps 90:17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. Moses prayed that God will make use of their service for Him. Do you even serve God, let alone want God to use your service? Making your days count means serving with your hands. Use your physical faculties well, gifts and resources He granted you, so that by it, people will know God’s beauty and glory. If God puts something in your hands and you say, “I have no time”, then you are not counting your days. We all have time to do something for God. It is a choice. Often, when the church approaches someone for help, it  is because help is needed in that area. Whatever you may have turned down to serve God in 2019 is lost. Do you want to keep going through year after year losing the privilege to serve Him? If we can still serve, let us work God’s work with zeal in whatever area God opens for us to do. Do not sit back and complain that you cannot serve in that ministry when other very needed areas are open for you to serve Him. And we should not pick and choose what we like. Neither should we be slack because an area of ministry does not make me prominent. Make your days count by doing with all your might what your hands find to do. And ask God to make your service count by serving Him with pure motives, in humility, and with zeal.

My 2020 Resolutions. As we look back on 2019 which is now over, let us ask ourselves some questions and learn from them. What have my days been like in 2019? Have I spent it in the light of eternity? Whatever Bible studies that you could have attended but you did not, the lessons lost are also lost. What can  I attend but have not been attending? Service to God and His kingdom that I turned down are opportunities lost forever in the sands of time. I must resolve to make my days count. What will I apply my heart to in 2020? Draw a table and see where you have served, and examine your personal sanctification. Is the study of the Word and service to Him going to be decreasing? Deal with your sins, deal with your time wasters. Write down what you intend to do and deal with it. May 2020 be a year that is well spent for our Lord. The time is short, the night is coming when no man may work! Make your DAYS count!

Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun,

Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;

Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done,

And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there

Yours in our Lord’s service,

Pastor